THE MEANING BEHIND THE MOVEMENT

Movement in film can be used in a variety of ways. What are some that you noticed are mentioned in this film? What ways are they used? What are some films that you like that you could go home this weekend and study for their movement? What aspects of their camera movement interest you? Please explain.

   You can communicate many different ideas into your shot by the movement of the camera. It all depends on how, where, and at what speed you move it. I noticed that in an action scene its always a good idea to keep the camera moving. Also, if two characters are walking you can communicate a sense of "being watched" by shooting from a tripod, zoomed in and panning with the actors. A good film to study is Mad Max Fury Road because it has plenty of action and it doesn't feel fake. By that I mean that they don't try to fake action by shaking the camera and cutting every second. This lets us explore what's actually in the frame, which will give us a clear view of the movement of the camera. Another great film to study is Birdman. In this film we get the feeling that he camera is never cutting, even though it is. It feels like one long continues shot. This technique came out as successful because it still follows the rules and has great camera movement. If you haven't seen any of these two films then I strongly recommend you go out and watch them.